The Third Promise
by KittyThomas
Summary: About thirteen years after the end of the game, Squall makes a promise to his daughter. Meanwhile Rinoa waits on the beach for their friends and children at a picnic gettogether. Squall&Rinoa, Selphie&Irvine, Q&OC, Z&OC kind of Read to find out. R&R!


**The Third Promise**

**A/N: This carries on from a 'New Promise' and 'First Born' in the sense of Rosa the referrence to 'another' promise, but makes sense on its own. A little bit more harmless happiness. (Yes, I know I have a lot of that but it's all good. I don't do depressing!) It's pretty self-explanatory. No plot, just rambles. PS, only read on if you LIKE happy-happy endings. You have been warned.**

**.o0o.**

A beach, near the place he had made that promise to her all those years ago, and where he made another one, and, lately, another one. He'd just taken Rosa up there, and promised her, like he'd promised her mother, that if she got lost, if she came here, she'd find him. Then he told her that he was _her_ knight too, until she found her own.

Squall was a natural father. Rinoa had seen it the moment he first held Rosa in his arms. That tearful look in his eyes, that huge smile when she looked up at him for the first time. He held her like she was precious, his arms gently cradling her tiny body, but at the same time so tightly it was as if he'd never let her go. He'd never had any father figure in his life, no one to set an example, yet somehow he looked after her on instinct. Protected her on instinct, watched her on instinct, and loved her without condition. She'd see him cradling her in the middle of the night while silently marveling at her brilliance. To Squall, she was perfect, the apple of his eye. Even when she misbehaved he could never stay mad at her for long. She was well and truly daddy's girl.

It was lucky the others weren't old enought to realise it yet.

"Mama, where's Daddy gone?" three-year-old Lenna looked up at her mother from her sandcastle underneath the brim of her large straw hat. Lenna looked more like Rinoa, with dark hair and eyes and very pale skin. Rosa looked more like her father, bright-eyed, brown-haired- like Raine, Laguna had said.

And Firion... well, it was impossible to tell yet. He had nothing but a tuft of colorless hair and was only three weeks old, still red and scrunched against his mother's chest.

"He's kinda cute, isn't he?" Observed Lenna, peering over at her little brother. She still didn't quite understand the concept of what he was and where he came from, but she understood that he was a 'little person' she was meant to take care of, like Rosa took care of her.

There was an age gap of five years between Rosa and Lenna. That's how long it had taken for Squall to find a workable solution to his career and family responsibilities. They'd eventually moved out of the Garden and settled in Winhill, but Squall still did the occasional mission and had his own airship for easy transportation, like family days out at the beach.

Rinoa laughed at her daughter's suggestion as Squall appeared at the top of the beach, Rosa's hand in his. Her long brown hair danced in her ponytail, and the sly wind caught the hem of her blue gingham dress, that matched the one her little sister was wearing. Squall beamed down at his daughter as she skipped along, a bucket full of tiny fish in one hand.

"Who? Your father or your brother?"

"Ew! The baby of course! Daddy isn't cute!"

"Sure I am!" Laughed Squall, dropping down beside her. "I'm just about the cutest guy there is. Ask anyone. Ask your mother!"

"Mama always says yes."

"Hey! I think your cute, Squall!" Squall spun around and saw Irvine and Selphie, accompanied by the six-year-old twins, Kain and Rydia, coming quickly towards them. Selphie carried a large picnic basket in one hand while the other held her large pink cowboy hat stable. The twins had matching ones, thankfully in their father's brown.

Selphie had quit being a SeeD shortly after Rosa was born. Her foster uncle had died, leaving behind a chocobo ranch which Selphie had immediately snatched up and set to work restoring. She loved a project, just like the Garden Festival or restoring Trabia- watching something flourish through her work. A year later, Irvine (who had by that time passed his SeeD exam) decided to go into part-retirement and joined her permanently. The twins soon followed. They were a handful, especially with all the baby chocobos that were running around the time of their birth, but they were wonderful and well-loved. They had plans for many more, and there was an ever-larger tale-tell bump in her yellow sundress was a sure sign they wouldn't be waiting much longer.

Irvine slumped down on the sand next to them. "Hey, guys! How we doing?"

"Good, Uncle Irvine." Chimed Lenna and Rosa, before running off to play with the twins. Squall and Irvine went to get the drinks from the car, ear-deep in 'man talk'.

Selphie began to arrange the food on the blanket when a fluffy yellow head popped out of the blanket shortly followed by another.

"Selphie!" Squeaked Rinoa, "What on-"

Selphie giggled. She hadn't changed at all in the passing years. Motherhood and responsibility- even death and destruction- had not weakened her childish demeanor. Selphie remained happy, cheerful and lively in the darkest of all times, and served as a strong reminder of all things good in the past and present. It was nice, Rinoa thought, knowing that Selphie would never change.

Although… Squall had changed for the better!

"They're our newest additions," Selphie cooed, stroking their feathers. "Orphaned twin chocobos… few days old. Perfect companions for our own, we thought. We can't leave them on their own yet, so we bought them with us. The twins love them! We called them Clasko and Coco."

Rinoa smiled and shook her head fondly. "They're adorable… How are you doing, Selphie?"

She smiled girlishly, placing a hand to her bump. "It just kicked…"

Irvine danced back over and kissed his wife fondly, rubbing her belly gently. "Yep, it's a keeper alright!" He joked, and then looked up at the bank. "Hey, Quistis!"

Quistis rolled her eyes and smiled, appearing on the beach with her arm tucked inside her husband's. Despite being the eldest, Quistis had been the last to get married. She'd been busier than any of them on reflection, placing career before family. She'd met Lieutenant Ross –now a General- when she was only twenty but they hadn't started dating until she was twenty-five and there was a rumour she'd only agreed to marry him to conceal the otherwise illegitimate birth of her daughter, Siren, now four years old. Nevertheless, the couple appeared very much in love, and if anything the baby had just served as a reason to hurry up. The three of them lived in the Garden in Squall and Rinoa's old quarters.

Quistis, like Selphie hadn't changed over the years, and her daughter looked set to follow in her mother's footsteps. She didn't have glasses yet, but she had the same eyes, same long blonde hair, same commanding walk and endearing stare. She wanted to be a high-ranking SeeD one day too. She could have been Quistis'double.

"Hello, Irvine." She waved. "It's good to see you all again. Zell not here yet?"

No sooner had she said that then a small boy with spiky blonde hair came charging passed her, nearly knocking Siren to the ground. He was followed by another, smaller boy, making airship noises, and finally by Zell himself, who picked up the smaller one and landed him promptly on his shoulders.

"Nah, I'm here Quisty! D'ya miss me?"

Quistis laughed and walked down to the others with him, Zell's five-year-old son Zack chasing Siren playfully. Zell's wife, Lisa, followed, taking Edge off his father's shoulders. The little boy was only eighteen months old and had a terrible sense of balance.

Zell had had a few girlfriends over the years but in the end gone back to first, a girl he affectionately called 'pigtail'. They'd been friends at the Garden and had started dating properly not long after Ultimecia's defeat. They'd broken up a couple of years later but hooked up again at a party when they were both in their twenties. One thing had led to another, and before they knew it, they were happily married with two small boys living in Balamb near his family. Zell was still a full time, high-ranking SeeD and commuted to the Garden each day- it usually found itself settled on the continent near Balamb, although it occasionally moved if it had to.

Zell and Quistis reached the others under the assortment of umbrellas and blankets, while their kids played with the others.

"Ellone not joining us?" Inquired Quistis, helping herself to a jam tart and hoping none of the kids noticed.

Rinoa shook her head. "She says she feels too fat at the moment for any swimsuit. She says she's not coming out until the baby does. She's up at the house with Laguna and Michael, they might join us later if they can coax her out with them."

"That's right; the Kramers' are on holiday, aren't they?"

"Ha, who'd want to go away from this place?" Zell laughed and looked down at the beach. "It's great here."

"Yes, we've many fond memories." Remarked Quistis.

"Hmm…" Selphie scowled, looking at Irvine. "And some bad ones…"

It seemed some private kind of joke that nobody wanted to ask about, so they contented themselves with sneaking bits of food while the kids weren't watching.

Rydia squealed as Kain lashed out and splashed her. The two baby chocobos ran out to join them, racing and splashing in the waves. Rosa had Lenna on her back, and the little girl was throwing a ball at Zack. Siren tried to maintain the fact that _she _was in control, but failed miserably and eventually found herself chasing the ball as well. In Lisa's arms, Edge wriggled uncomfortably and reached out a hand towards the fun, and Lisa decided in was safe to let him go, as long as she watched him. The seven little children, aged eight to eighteen months played peacefully together with such innocence and determination that it promised many more years of exactly the same, with many more children to follow.

Thirteen years. Eight kids and more to come between them. A beach with a sunset near the place with the promise. Rinoa looked up at the sky and smiled, kissing Firion's forehead and snuggling him against her breast.

_One very happy ending._

**.o0o.**

**A/N: Mushy but cute? Too mushy? Tell me what you think, guys- read and review! Comments, compliments, critisms... all welcome! Want more? Tell me. What something different? Tell me! I really want to do the Selphie&Irvine side of events. Also want more Laguna! **

**Oh, and the kids' names. Rosa, heroine of FFIV. Lenna, heroine (and coincidentally, princess) of FFV. Firion, hero of FFII. Kain and Rydia, both characters from FF1V. Zack- FFVII, Edge- FFIV. Clasko was a chocobo knight/lover in X and X-2, and Coco is the name of a chocobo in FFV. Siren is simply named after the GF of this game, one I always assciated with her. I found no names from past Final Fantasy games that suited her -she's just so Quistis. 'Sarisa' sister of Lenna, was a brief thought- so much so that her middle name is Faris (you'll know if you'd played it). I refused to name her Aeris/Aerith because it's too mean- Zack gets away with being named after a dead character because it's a normal name which just suited him to a Z. I tried to name them all after characters in past games rather than future ones... dunno why. Stupid Clasko...**

**Lmao, that's enough rambling for today!**


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